NOTE: UNTANGLING THE RIGHT TO SELF-REPRESENTATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Summer, 2009

Georgia Law Review

43 Ga. L. Rev. 1285

Author

Rachel K. Jones

Excerpt

I. Introduction

The Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) provides that a defendant has the right "to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing." 2 What, however, are the bounds of this right? It has been stated that "a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client" and the wisdom of this expression proves itself repeatedly. 3 When Slobodan Milo evi , a trained lawyer, requested to represent himself in the ICTY, his request was initially granted. 4 As the trial proceeded, the prosecution sought to have counsel imposed on Milo evi multiple times, 5 including an attempt in 2002 that argued that his failing health caused long trial delays. 6

When Voji lav e elj, also trained as a lawyer, sought self representation before the ICTY, his request was similarly granted. 7 His trial soon turned chaotic; his political outbursts and other deliberate delays seriously impeded the integrity of the trial. 8 Due to e elj's clear attempt "to use the proceedings as a forum" for other interests and the "consequent possibility of a disorderly trial," the prosecution again sought to impose counsel. 9

What has emerged from these and other cases is a conflict between the defendant's right to self-representation and the desire for a just, "fair and expeditious" trial. 10 First, "[t]he right to defend is personal [because] [t]he defendant, and not his lawyer or the State, will bear ...

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